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Local swimmers take state meet by storm

swimming -- Forest Grove Swim Club nabs 17th place at the Long Course State Championships behind a number of stellar individual performances

The Forest Grove Swim Club took 17th place at the OSI Long Course State Championship meet last weekend in Gresham.

Forest Grove sent 13 representatives to the meet, which was open to swimmers 11 years old and over. It was the largest contingent of Forest Grove swimmers at the state meet in a number of years, and some solid individual performances landed the Dragons a 17th-place finish as a team.

Aaron Young led the way with three top-three finishes for the weekend, while teammate Daniel Rooker landed in the top 10 in each of the six events he entered. Jonathan Rooker had four top-five finishes and six results in the top 10. Gabriel Rooker, Jacob Cockeram, Tim Sandage, Steve Allnut and Owen Shiel also added top 10 performances for Forest Grove.

Sharon Rooker, the Dragons' only girls representative, had five top-five finishes for the weekend.

In relay events, Forest Grove's boys 11-12 year old team took fourth place in the 400-meter medley relay and fifth in the 400 freestyle relay. The 13-14 year old squad finished fifth in the 400 medley relay, and eighth in both the 400 and 800 free relay events. The boys 15 and over team finished 11th in the 400 free relay.

Individually, Forest Grove was powered by several outstanding performances.

Young took second place in the 50-meter backstroke, plus he nabbed a pair of third-places finishes in the 50 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. Young also took ninth in the 100 butterfly and 12th in the 100 freestyle.

Daniel Rooker nabbed top 10 finishes in each of his six events, including third place in the 50 free, 400 free and 200 individual medley. He added fourth place in the 800 free, fifth place in the 100 butterfly and seventh in the 400 individual medley.

Jonathan Rooker provided Forest Grove's only other second-place finish in the 200 backstroke. His other top finishes included fourth place in the 100 free, 100 backstroke and 400 individual medley, plus sixth place in the 800 free. He also finished 10th in the 400 free.

Owen Shiel had a solid weekend, claiming seventh place in both the 100 and 400 freestyle events, plus eighth place in the 200 free. He also took 15th in the 50 backstroke and 50 butterfly.

Steve Allnut finished fourth in the 200 individual medley and sixth in the 1500 freestyle. He also took 15th in the 200 free, 17th in the 100 free and 20th in the 100 breaststroke.

Jacob Cockeram swam his way to a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly, plus 16th in the 200 individual medley and 17th in the 400 individual medley. He also added a 21st-place finish in the 200 freestyle and a 22nd-place finish in the 400 free.

Kyle Butcher was 17th in the 200 butterfly, 21st in the 50 free, 24th in the 400 individual medley, 26th in the 400 free and 27th in the 100 backstroke.

Josh Sandage took 15th place in the 200 breaststroke and 17th place in the 100 breaststroke, while Tim Sandage was ninth in the 100 breast. Gabriel Rooker took third place in his only event, the 200 breaststroke.

Sharon Rooker, the lone girls representative, finished third in the 1500 freestyle, fifth in the 100 free and sixth in three events - the 100 backstroke, 50 free and 200 free. She also took 12th place in the 100 butterfly.